Root leads Yale into Frozen Four

Jesse Root

This week is homecoming for Jesse Root as the Mt. Lebanon native leads the Yale University ice hockey team into the Frozen Four, which is being hosted by Pittsburgh this week at the Consol Energy Center.

The 6-0, 185-pound forward guided the Bulldogs (20-12-3) to stunning victories during the western regional tournament of the NCAA Division I playoffs. Dramatic triumphs over No. 1 ranked Minnesota, 3-2, and North Dakota, 4-1, vaulted Root and Yale into Thursday’s semifinal versus the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Face-off is at 4:30 p.m. April 11.

Root scored the game-winning goal against the Gophers, nine seconds into overtime of the western regional semifinal. He also had the decisive tally in the win over North Dakota, which vaulted Yale into the NCAA semifinals.

Should Yale trump UMass Lowell (28-10-2), the Bulldogs will compete for the NCAA title. They would face the winner between No. 1 Quinnipiac and St. Cloud State in the championship contest set for 7 p.m. April 13, also at Consol Energy Center.

Quinnipiac (29-7-5) and St. Cloud (25-15-1) face off at 8 p.m. April 11 in the other semifinal clash.

Root ranks among Yale’s scoring leaders with 11 goals and 11 assists this season. He has 20 career goals to go along with 34 assists.

A junior, Root played on Mt. Lebanon’s 2006 state championship club before heading to Taft High School. A team captain in 2008-09, he led the club to the New England quarterfinals. A national AP scholar as well as a standout in lacrosse, Root also competed in the Eastern Junior Hockey League. There he tallied 44 goals in 41 games and led the Junior Bruins with seven game-winning goals.

The son of Kathy and David Root is a political science major at Yale. For his class work as well as his hockey prowess, he has garnered academic All-ECAC honors.